WASHINGTON – The Biden government said on Tuesday that it has high doses of the Pfizer and Moderna coronavirus vaccines, which are assured over blood clots a few hours after many states stopped administering the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
“We have enough supplies,” Jeff Zients, coordinator of the White House coronavirus response, said during a press briefing Tuesday afternoon.
Zients has promised that the government is committed to achieving 200 million vaccinations by the 100th day of Biden, which arrives at the end of April. Earlier, in a White House statement, Zients noted that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine accounted for only 5 percent of all vaccinations in the U.S., while Pfizer and Moderna accounted for the rest.
Johnson & Johnson is apparently a thorn in Biden’s government. First, there were questions about the effectiveness of the vaccine, although it is actually just as good at preventing serious or critical illnesses as the competitors. Subsequently, faulty manufacturing at a Johnson & Johnson plant in Baltimore resulted in 15 million doses being discarded.
Tuesday’s development was the most challenging. Although the reports of blood clots were found in only six women out of 6.8 million shots, one of the women was killed. But risk perception can be difficult to deal with, and the mere suggestion of serious side effects may be enough to deter people from being vaccinated.
Zients and dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said during the White House press briefing that they were informed Monday night that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, along with the Food and Drug Administration, would do so. recommends Tuesday morning that the distribution of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine be halted while the issue is being studied.
Fauci and Zients insisted that the White House did not put pressure on all the impatience on the vaccination front. Some have criticized the recommendation to discontinue the vaccine, given the rarity of coagulation complications.
“We are governed by science,” Fauci said, “not by any other consideration.” It was a clear reference to his former boss, Donald Trump.
But science can be just as controversial and rebellious as politics. A similar scenario occurred in Europe, with reports of blood clots following the administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine there. Several countries then temporarily stopped using the vaccine, although the European Medicines Agency said that the comparative risks are such that the coronavirus should be a bigger problem than a small number of cases of blood clots.
It is impossible to predict whether people will be reassured or frightened by the Johnson & Johnson break. Trump wanted to inject himself into the debate, by blowing up President Biden for the break and urging him to “get the Johnson & Johnson vaccine back online quickly.”
White House officials are unlikely to take up the dispute. Instead, they are working to convince the American public that the potentially disturbing headlines about Johnson & Johnson will not backfire on the vaccination plans.
Fauci noted that of the more than 100 million people who received at least one dose of Moderna or Pfizer vaccines (which, unlike their counterpart Johnson & Johnson, required two doses), no “negative red flag symbols” were reported.
“It tells you that you are dealing with a very safe vaccine,” Fauci said.
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